On the trio's second album of 2024, Cutouts is deliciously addictive, begging you to come back for more. The Smile are on a roll and there's no signs of slowing down.
The Smile are on a roll. The UK trio spun off of Radiohead, consisting of band members Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and ex-Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, have had an explosive year already. Earlier this year, they released the excellent Wall of Eyes, their second album which pushed the envelope further on where the band can take their rhythmic, ghostly sound. Coming off of these same sessions comes yet another album, titled Cutouts. The group's third album continues to expand the band's direction through mathy guitars, rhythmic percussion, complex and lush arrangements, and all around great songs to boot. Wall of Eyes is a fantastic listen and it's one of 2024's best records and Cutouts is just as great if not better than its predecessor. It's arguably the grooviest and most enjoyable album Yorke and Greenwood have been a part of since In Rainbows. Cutouts is deliciously addictive, begging you to come back for more.
The opener "Foreign Spies" drearily floats with its synths and ghostly vocals from Yorke, making it a very pretty intro. There's a clear influence of Greenwood's background on making versatile arrangements with "Instant Psalm," which is possibly the prettiest song on the album aside from "Tiptoe." "Colours Fly" is solid, reminding me of the hypnotic grooves from past Smile tracks like "The Smoke" and finishes in noisy, psychedelic fashion. The slow building "Don't Get Me Started" is a grower and not exactly a shower but when its begrudged, murky synths creep in and out, it's sharply addictive and infectious. The infectiousness continues with "Zero Sum," whose mathy guitars intertwine with one another in the album's grooviest moments, even with a little cowbell thrown in there. And when those horns kick in, it's pure bliss. It's the most fun Smile song yet. "Eyes & Mouth" continues these fantastic grooves and vibes that "Zero Sum" set in but with some lush, dramatic piano coming in. Like mentioned earlier, "Tiptoe" is the album's prettiest and most stunning track. Its orchestra-backed instrumental is as spine tinglingly beautiful as Radiohead's rejected song for the 007 Spectre film. "The Slip" takes a bit to get going but when its momentum speeds up near the end, it has a satisfying climax. "No Words" is classic Radiohead but with The Smile's extra grooves and jazzy, complex rhythms. It might be the more redundant track in the track listing but that doesn't keep it from being all the more entertaining. The album's closer "Bodies Laughing" ends things on a quieter more meditative resolution with softly sung vocals, acoustic guitar, eerie harmonies, and steady percussion.
On the surface, people would be quick to say that Cutouts is simply a collection of leftovers from the sessions that brought us Wall of Eyes, but it's instead another excellent album from The Smile that stands up strongly on its own two feet. Yorke, Greenwood, and Skinner are on a high creative streak ever since their debut in 2022 and it seems like they're not going to slow down anytime soon. They keep pushing and pushing and as a result, they're continuing to make some of the most colorful, forward thinking, and enjoyable music they've ever put out in their careers. Just like with Wall of Eyes, Cutouts clearly proves that The Smile are here to stay. For how long, we don't exactly know. But we get to enjoy it with open arms while it lasts because the group's current hot streak is something to behold. Yorke, Greenwood, and Skinner are having an absolute blast making music together and who would want to stop them while they're on this red hot of a streak?
My Rating: 8 / 10
Favorite Songs: "Zero Sum," "Don't Get Me Started," "Instant Psalm," "Eyes & Mouth," "Tiptoe," "Foreign Spies"
コメント